A cholera outbreak has killed at least seven people and infected 33 others over the past one week in western Kenya, health officials said Monday, as authorities struggled to contain the disease.

The fatalities included three children and four adults who died in Sindo and Mbita trading posts, said Suda district medical officer of health David Soti.

A total of 33 patients are admitted in three health centres in the affected district, about 330 kilometres (206 miles) northwest of the capital Nairobi, he added.

Public health officers have shut public eateries and markets as well as appealed to the public to observe high sanitation standards in the district in a bid to contain the highly contagious disease.

Cholera is a waterborne disease which causes serious diarrhoea and vomiting and can be fatal if not treated within 24 hours. It can be prevented by washing hands before handling food and avoiding contaminated drinking water.

Source-AFP
LIN/P